“The debts owed to women, in terms of peace and security, persist”: this was the speech of Deputy Minister Laura Gil before the United Nations:

One day before the commemoration of the International Women’s Daythe Deputy Minister of Multilateral Affairs, Laura Gil, participated in the public debate of the United Nations Security Councilthe one that was made because of the anniversary number 25 of Resolution 1325 of 2000 on “Women, Peace and Security”. In her speech, the official said Colombia is committed to making total peace work, and women are an important part of the process.

“The ace Colombian women they redefine the content of resolution 1325, appropriate it, shape us to their situation and, thus, lead them to the challenges they face in 2023 (…) urban, rural, mestizo, indigenous, Afro-Colombian, peasants, heterosexuals, LGTBI, workers and professionals who meet in all corners of Colombia to talk, exchange, organize and formulate a public peace and security policy“, he commented in front of the panel participating in the debate.

From what he pointed out, the situation in which women and girls in the middle of the armed conflicts raises questions about what lies behind the resolution’s agenda. Likewise, that due to situations like these, this programming needs to be updated, although what it offers “is still valid, relevant and bearing fruit in Colombia”. It should be noted that Deputy Minister Gil leads the Colombian delegation participating in the Commission on the Legal and Social Status of Women.

The women, as a fundamental element of the overall peace process, said the Deputy Minister, they are agents of change, therefore, she argued, the National Government, led by the President of the Republic, Gustavo Petro, has been responsible for guaranteeing the participation of this population , in all its diversity, as a priority in the development of this policy. “We want to be an international benchmark for peace and life. We are convinced that change is for and with women. We are moving towards the structural transformations that will lead us settle the debt of political representationequality and economic autonomy, and to guarantee the right to a life free from violence”, he underlined.

Although Colombia, he recalled, negotiated the world’s first peace agreement with a gender approach, “the debts owed to women, in peace and security issues persist. We are happy to announce that 23 years later, 23 years late Colombia is developing its first national action plan for resolution 1325 hand in hand, and we are doing it hand in hand with women. We organize five regional forums, a national meeting and various sectoral workshops. We want an exemplary plan. It will have the victims of conflict at the center and it will pay particular attention to the use of sexual violence as an instrument of war,” he continued during the debate.

Resolution 1325, Gil commented, generated an “explosion” of participation in the country. “We were surprised, overwhelmed and gratified (…) We believe that the Security Council must focus on taking into account the differentiated impacts of conflictss armed on the LGBTI community and consider a resolution on the issue,” added Gil, saying that Colombia believes that the ‘Women, Peace and Security’ agenda needs intersectionality, that is, a more diverse representation of population.

“The multiple identities that intersect to exacerbate discrimination must be recognized by the Security Council. No Colombian woman is a single woman, we are several at the same time, and we hope that the Security Council will reflect our challenges as they are. Lack of diversity”How did he.

In her speech, she recommended to the women of the world and to Colombian women “not to give up and, as she says our vice-president Francia Márquezkeep on fighting until dignity is customary”.